More vehicle charging points for longitudinal corridors are the goal of the European project in Sweden
The middle lane, literally the “middle road”, is one of Sweden’s most important roads – which provides an east / west corridor towards Norway.
It is a snow-white road during the winter months, but a European project aims to make it “green” all year round.
Promote mixed transport
How? By increasing the number of charging points for electric vehicles – at all train stations along the route. The aim is to promote mixed transport and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from passenger transport.
Business developer Jimmy Anjevall uses it from time to time.
– When I travel, it’s nice to be able to charge the car during my stay in the city, he says. “It’s a little more expensive if I compare it to charging at home, but it’s not that expensive. That is € 0.29 per kilowatt hour. ”
These terminals work with a brand – or an application that in real time indicates which charging points are available and their location.
Serves sparsely populated areas
The Ladda i Mittstråket project has a budget of just over 800,000 euros – half of which is financed by European cohesion policy.
The County Administrative Boards in Jämtland and Västernorrland finance the majority of the other half, where Jämtkraft and Sundsvall Energi also finance part of their investments (approximately 7%).
There are 85 charging stations planned for over 200,000 potential users who live along the 358-kilometer stretch between Sundsvall and Storlien.
Sweden has the largest number of electric vehicles in the EU. The project aims to ensure that even those who live in sparsely populated areas have access to charging stations.
– Here, the train and public transport are good, but it is sometimes difficult to reach your final destination with public transport, says Ladda in Mittstråket’s project manager Henrietta Philp. “So you may need a car. We want to give people here equal opportunities to own and use an electric vehicle just as you would do elsewhere in Sweden, where it is more populated than here.”
Severe weather conditions are not the only challenge
The installation of the charging points started in January 2021 and will be completed this year. In Åre, teams work when the weather allows. But the weather is not the only challenge. Caroline Hildahl from Jämtkraft Strategy is one of the project leaders.
– I would say that the main challenges in this type of project are to coordinate several different parallel processes with property owners, the network company, the national traffic authorities who own the roads, she says. “And we have a cultural heritage, so that must be taken into account.”
Mittstråket aims to be a priority corridor for regional and international transport by 2030.